Electric connecter and receptacle therefor



31 w. D. c. WRIGHT 2,079,234 ELECTRIC CQNNECT'ER AND RECEPTACLE THEREFOR Filed Jan. 7, 193$ INVENTOR ATTORNEY 1 ,..,.,.t.m.,4,193 2,079,234 r i UNITED: STATES PATENT OFFICE h Eniac'rmo coNNEo'rEaANn RECEPTACLE n wrnaaaron a I Wilson D; Craig" wright, PrincetcnpNij J gfApplication ma 1936, Serial No.-5v,e61 coinin (Cl.1 73 33 This lnvention relates,generally,toelectrical therefor of the above character that is of explugs .such as used in connection with domestic tremelyi rugged and durable construction, the electricalwappliances and for other uses andthe prongs oi the. plug beingso constructed-as to inventionhas reference, more particularly, tota stronglyresistany bending thereof, and the re- 8 novel construction, of, electrical plugand coopcepta'cle being so constructed as to render the cratingreceptacletherefgr. same substantially fool proof, the contacts of Electrical plugs heretofore generally conthe receptacle being disposedto reduce the posstructed usually. consist of two flat; spaced sibility of their accidental or intentional shorting prongs projecting from'the plug body, the said, -to aminimum. l l l prongs being adapted forinsertion into conform- Other :Iobjects of this invention, not at this 10 ing recesses provided in the plug receptacle. time more particularly enumerated, will be clear- These prongs or tongues have outer fiat ends and 1y understoodfrom the following detailed demust be aligned with/the'receptacleopenings bescriptionof the same. l

l fore they can beinserted thereinton Owing to The :invention is clearly illustrated in theacl5 necessity of aligning the plug prongs with the companying drawing, in which:-- l

receptacleapertures before the plug can be en- Fig. 1 is aview infront elevationof the novel gaged' in the receptacle, considerable effort and receptacleofthisinvention; patience is. usually required when'thusly' con- Fig. 2 is a viewin side elevation of the novel necting appliances to a service line. is espe plug of this invention; p :ciallyytrue whena receptacle is located in a i Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but with the baseboard, for in such case the user muststoop plug turned through 90;

over and endeavor to locate the recesses in the Fig. 4-is aview in front elevation'o f the plug; receptacle and place the plug prongs therein M Fig. 5 is' a fragmentary sectional view showing and very often, owing to'poorlight, this is almost a plug insertedintdthe receptacle, the latter Q5 impossible. Furthermore, the prongs of plugs being mounted for'use; a heretofore used are relatively weak and easily Fig. 6 is a view in'front elevation of a portion bent so thesame, as a result of accidental bendof thestructure shown in Fig. 5;

ing,will not properlyfitinto the receptacleand Fig. is a sectional view taken substantially for thisreason much time isroften losjt iii trying on line 1 -1m Fig. 6.

, 3 to insert a plug. 3 l T .S imilar characters of reference are employed :39

Theprincipalobject of theipresent invention in said views, to indicate corresponding parts.

is to provide a novel electricalplug and associated Referring now to the said'drawing, the referreceptacle. that overcomes the above defects. ence numeral lfdesignat'esa plug having an insu- The plug andreceptacle of this 'invention being lating plug body 2 shown as provided with a constructed and arranged forextremely simple finger grip portion 3; Plug i is provided with and easy insertion ofthe plug into the receptacle "two prongs 4 and 5 that cross one another at andwithout thenecessity of aligning the plug right angles, each of said pro-ngs extending for prongswith the receptacle recesses. y the greater portion of the diameter of the plug M Another object "of the present' invention lies in body 25 The prongs 4 and '5 are preferably 40 theprovision of thei novelplug and cooperating stamped or pressed from sheet metal and each receptacle of the above characterwherein the of these prongsconsists of two paralleL-spaced prongs taken as a whole are of substantially .pronglegs that are integrallyinterconnected by cruciform shape and are provided with conical a bridge member or yoke, the bridge members tapered or somewhat pointed outer end portions of the prongs being so disposed as to cross one l f r y en aconforming conical abovetheother so that the two prongs; donot 45 depression provided .in the receptacle face, touch at any point. Thus the prong 4 has prong whereby theplugis'rendered self centering with legs Band 6" and abridge member I, whereas respect to the receptacle and thenmay be turned, the prong 5 has prong legs 8 and 8' and a bridge if n e rin tose'cure the p pr e ement member 9, the bridge member 9 passing over ofthe plug prongs inthe=receptac1e recesses, the vthe bridge member I and spaced from the latter. 50 operation ofaplugging in being extremely simple, The prong legsof each of the prongs 4 and 5 easyand quickand not requiring a clear view of are provided with base lugs l I and I I extending the receptacle to obtainlthe desired end. i atiight' angles tothe prong legs and in opposite Another objectfof the present invention is to. directions with respect to each other. Thebase 5 provide a novel electrical plug and receptacle lugs ll of the prongs 4 and 5 are secured to the plug body 2 as by hollow rivets l2 that may be molded or otherwise fixed in the plug body, thereby rigidly mounting the prongs 4 and in fixed position upon the plug body. The base lugs II are threaded for receiving screws I3 that serve to attach or hold the leads [4 and I4 to the respective prongs. If desired, the screws 13 may thread into the plug body 2, thereby further securing the prongs upon the plug body, or the base lugs I I may. also be secured to the plug body as by hollow rivets and into which the screws I3 may thread, if desired.

Owing to the relatively great width of the prongs 4 and 5 and to thefact that their base lugs H and H extend in opposite directions, these prongs are very strong and rigid and for that reason can stand much abuse without bending or becoming loose from the plug body 2. The apertures l5 and I6 provided in prongs 4 and 5, respectively, inwardly of the bridge members "I and 9 and extending between the prong legs provide ample space for receiving the leads l4 and I4 drawn through the hollow plug body 2 and enable the ready insertion of .these leads under the holding screws l3.

The outer end portions of the prongs 4 and 5 are conically tapered at I! and I8 respectively, the prong 5 coming to a point at H in line with the longitudinal axis of the plug. The tapered portions l8 and I8 are also preferably beveled or rounded in the direction of the thickness of the prongs so as to eliminate sharp corners that might tend to mar the plug receptacle in use.

The plug receptaclev 20 is of insulating material and is provided in its forward exposed face with a conical depression 2| for conformably receiving the conical outer end portions of prongs 4 and 5, the taper of depression 2| being the same as those of the prong ends. Receptacle 20 is provided with a cruciform prong receiving recess 22 disposed concentrically with depression 2| for receiving the prongs 4 and'5. The prong receiving recess 22 thus has fourbranches and in two of these branches extending at right angles to one another are provided stationary spring contact members 23 for engaging the prongs 4 and 5. Contact members 23 are connected as by jumpers. 24 to supply leads 25. The plug receptacle 20 is carried as by a saddle member 26 that may be attached as by screws 21 to a supporting wall or other structure.

In use, to insert the plug I into the receptacle 20 it is merely necessary to insert the conically tapered outer end portions of theprongs into the conical depression 2|, the cooperating conical surfaces, serving to automatically center the plug with respect to the receptacle. If the prongs happen to be aligned with recess 22 they will directly enter this recess, thereby completing the engagement of plug and receptacle, the prongs engaging contacts 23. If the prongs are not initially aligned with the recess 22, the plug I may be given a slight twist in either direction, whereupon the prongs will enter this recess.

It will be noted that the plug may be inserted in any one of four positions into the receptacle recess 22. Inasmuch as the stationary contacts '23 are disposed in right angled branches of the recess 22, the insertion of a piece of metal into one of the cross slots of the receptacle will not short the circuit, thereby rendering the device substantially foolproof. If in any event the prongs 4 and 5 should become bent and-touch each other, it will be impossible to insert them into recess 22 until they are again straightened out.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, as defined by the following claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, an electrical plug having a plug body, and a pair of intersecting prongs carried by said plug body, said prongs being insulated from one another, each of said prongs consisting of spaced prong legs that are rigidly interconnected adjacent their outer free ends to give the prong great strength.

2. In a device of the character described, an electrical plug having a plug body, and a pair of intersecting prongs carried by said plug body, said prongs being insulated from one another, the prong assembly having a substantially cruciform shape, and with the outer end of the same conically tapered to facilitate its insertion into a receptacle, the outer tapered surfaces of the individual prongs lying in a common conical surface.

3. In a device of the character described, a plug and plug receptacle, said plug having a pair of contact members disposed to present a cruciform appearance, the outer end portions of said contact members being tapered so as to lie in the surface of an imaginary cone, said receptacle having a conical depression in its face for conformably receiving said contact member end portions, and a receptacle recess of cruciform shape disposed concentrically with said conical depression, said cruciform recess having contact members therein disposed at right angles to each other.

4. In a device of the character described, a plug and plug receptacle, said plug having a pair of contact members disposed to present a cruciform appearance, the outer end portions of said contact members being tapered so as to lie in the surface of an imaginary cone, said receptacle having a conical depression in its face for conformably receiving said contact member end portions, and a receptacle recess of cruciform shape disposed concentrically with said conical depres sion, said cruciform recess having stationary contact members disposed in branches thereof extending at right angles to one another.

5. In a device of the character described, an electrical plug having an apertured plug body, and a pair of intersecting prongs carried by said 'plug body, each of said prongs comprising spaced parallel prong legs and an outer interconnecting bridge member, the spaces between said prong legs providing a passage, whereby leads may be drawn through said apertured plug body, between said legs and attached to said prongs.

6. In a device of the character described, an electrical plug having an apertured plug body, and a pair of intersecting prongs carried by said plug body, each of said prongs comprising spaced parallel prong legs and an outer interconnecting bridge member, the bridge member of one of said prongs being positioned outwardly of the bridge member of the other prong.

WILSOND. CRAIG WRIGHT. 

